A six-axis force sensor is used in, for example, an assembling robot which assembles a part. The six-axis force sensor is attached to a wrist of an arm of the robot and is used to detect a force and a moment component generated during assembly work and perform posture control of a hand portion. The force sensor includes a pedestal member which is fixed to, e.g., the robot arm and an action member which is fixed to, e.g., the hand portion and is displaced relative to the pedestal member according to an external force. The pedestal member and action member are connected by an elastic body.
A force or a moment exerted on the action member is detected as a displacement of the action member by a displacement detecting unit. Displacement detecting units of this type include one which detects a displacement of an action member from a change in the resistance of a strain gauge resulting from a strain in an elastic body caused by a force applied to the action member (see PTL 1). A magnetic displacement detecting unit has also been proposed which includes a magnetic flux generating source and a magneto-electric transducer (see PTL 2). Use of such a magnetic displacement detecting unit achieves higher durability than use of a strain gauge. Accordingly, application of a magnetic force sensor to an assembling robot improves reliability.